Proud of the USA and Los Angeles, Disappointed in California

I'm home again and mostly rested from the New Mexico adventure. If you are taking an overnight train ride, a roomette is the way to go. On the way home, I didn't have one. The young woman in the next seat kept hitting my legs as she climbed over me during the night and kicked me in the side two or three other times in her sleep. Then there were the people with headphones which did nothing to block the sound (they'll be deaf a lot earlier in life than I will) and the people who had to check e-mail every 15 minutes--the light is blinding when you are otherwise in the dark. Next time, it's either a sleeper or I'll have to fly.

The USA elected Barack Obama and Los Angeles soundly defeated Proposition 8. Unfortunately, the rest of the state (except for San Francisco, I'm pretty sure) didn't see this assault on equal protection for what it is. I just read the papers which have been filed to overturn the effects of 8 on the basis that it is a revision of the California State Constitution, not an amendment, and therefore illegal. It seems like a sound argument to me. Keith Olbermann did a special comment about this strange result last night. I'm surprised that he had such a hard time identifying anyone in his extended family who is gay. I came up with several without any effort. In terms of friends, I couldn't even begin to do a count. When you live and work among artists, you are in the most accepting of communities. I hope that Proposition 8 comes to a quick and deserving end.

Ace, for all who may be wondering, was glad to see me, although a bit stand-offish when I first showed up, as if to say "where the hell have you been?" He may have a "hot" nail from his visit from the farrier on Saturday. I noticed a bob during lessons yesterday and Gayle called to say it doesn't show at the walk or slow trot, but he's dead lame when he moves out. Left front hoof, of course. I've called Tim and I hope he can get out to see Ace before leaving for a trip home later this week. Poor Ace.

I haven't done more than load into Lightroom the 1000+ images I took in New Mexico. Most of them were of my friend Melinda riding Vento, the wonder stallion from Brazil, so there'll be heavy editing of the blurry images. Pixels are so much cheaper than film, so I don't skimp on the making images end of things. Melinda rode in an enclosed, indoor arena, so it was slow shutter speed, little depth of field, and high ISO. Not the best combination for great pictures, but I've probably got a few nice images in there. The pictures of her house are quite nice, though. Eventually, I'll put some up here.

We're having a brief bit of autumn out here. It was chilly last night and this morning, but 90 degree temperatures are promised for the end of the week.

Too Darned Hot

A reminder that we live in what used to be a desert, before Mr. Mulholland stole all that water from up north: it's almost 110 degrees F. The thermometer in the shade outside of my office was at 106 when I looked at it about half an hour ago. There are clouds building to the east which would definitely indicate an impending thunder storm if I was back in New York or Virginia, but this is Los Angeles where water from the sky in August is pretty rare. It rained in Chatsworth, 7 miles to the northwest of our house on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday I heard a report of rain in Burbank, about 10 miles east of where we live. Not a drop fell on our house either day.

Hypocrisy is alive and well among the Republicans today. First is Senator Craig saying "I have never been a homosexual"--as if it is a persona that can be changed at will. Then there are the members of his party calling for his resignation--so the Republican governor of Idaho can appoint an interim Republican Senator who will then have no trouble winning next year in the very red state. (There was another Republican Senator in a similarly embarrassing position recently, but there are no calls for his resignation because he's from a state where a Democrat is likely to be appointed to replace him. The corollary is likely the reason that "independent" Joe Lieberman is being bandied about for Attorney General: Connecticut has a Republican governor who would be able to appoint an interim Republican to the Senate, throwing things back into Republican hands for the next 500-plus days.) And, of course, there is Fox So-called News reporting on this story but refusing to identify Senator Craig as a Republican! It might be an error, if this wasn't the latest of many times one of Rupert Murdoch's companies did this. In fact, they have intentionally mis-identified Republicans as being Democrats for similar gaffes and crimes.

News flash, Senator Craig: no one cares who or what you're playing around with until you lie about it and persecute other people for having the same orientation. As long as you are not taking advantage of minors, Congressional pages, or someone else over whom you have unlimited power and as long as you don't treat the rest of the world like we're stupid, it's your own darned business. Resigning is the coward's way out. We'll be happy to see you go next year. [Thanks, Len, for catching the missing word in the earlier version of this.]